Fifth seed Daria Kasatkina locks horns with 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the round of 32 of the Adelaide International 2 on Monday.
The 25-year-old had a rough start to the new season. She entered the Adelaide International 1 as the third seed and was expected to carry on with her good form from last season. However, that wasn’t the case.
Kasatkina lost the first set convincingly against Czech qualifier Linda Noskova. After managing to bag a tightly-contested second set, Kasatkina was once again outplayed in the third set. Noskova has now gone on to reach the finals. The Russian star will look to bounce back at the Adelaide International 2. A good performance here will help her gain momentum ahead of the all-important Australian Open.
The Kazakhstani No. 1 also took part in the Adelaide International 1. Her campaign came to an end in the round of 16 stage of the tournament.
Rybakina began with an impressive win against fifth-seed Danielle Collins after dropping the first set. The match ended 5-7, 6-2, 6-3. Rybakina was helped by the 10 double faults that her opponent committed. The 23-year-old next match came against Marta Kostyuk in the round of 16. This time, Rybakina won the first set but eventually lost the match 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 3-6.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 2-1 in favor of Daria Kasatkina. She defeated Rybakina in their most recent encounter at the 2022 Silicon Valley Classic in three sets.
Prediction: Daria Kasatkina to win in three sets.
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